Pure comfort! Comfort food that is. Hamburger Steak smothered in Country Gravy is the epitome of comfort food. I made a batch the other night. Good stuff. The secret, I believe, is the right choice of ground beef. Ground chuck (80/20 or 85/15) is too greasy for my liking. The 96/4 burger doesn’t have enough grease for the gravy. 92/8 is just right. Here’s how I do mine. In … [Read more...]
Mr. Faucet Comes Though Again
There are two types of plumbing products. Those that don’t work now and those that soon won’t work. Plumbing is a group of inanimate objects waiting to fall apart. Sink faucets drip, commode seals leak, hot water heaters die violent deaths, dishwashers go belly up during the rinse cycle, pipes spring leaks, washing machines commit suicide and garbage disposals go to pot. It’s just a … [Read more...]
Repair Your Lamps: Don’t Replace
By Nancy B It happens to us all - your favorite lamp gets knocked over and just stops working. Or maybe your favorite heirloom light fixture starts to show wear and tear. You might be dreading the thought of trying to replace your favorite lamp, or worse yet, trying to match a new piece to your other matching lamps. You may want to update your antique lamps because you would like to … [Read more...]
Idahoan Hearty Soup
Sometimes, on a cold winter night, a big bowl of hot potato soup just hits the spot. You know, nice and chunky, rich and creamy. On occasion, I’ll make a batch, Nancy loves it and it’s not terribly hard to put together, but it does involve peeling potatoes, chopping and sautéing onions, stirring in cream, etc. Last week, strolling through Food Lion, I saw a display of Idahoan Hearty Soups that … [Read more...]
Shenandoah Valley Report
From Mossy Creek Fly Fishing Mountain Brook Trout Streams Mountain streams like North River have been running strong for several weeks. All the western streams are running bank-full. Fishing conditions should be excellent this week. Dry River, North River, Ramsey’s Draft, Skidmore Fork, Fridley’s Gap, St. Mary’s and the Shenandoah National Park Streams are running big but clear. Even in the … [Read more...]
Full Employment
There weren’t many ways to earn money as a Boomer teenager. Allowances were meager, maybe 50c a week. This was before child labor laws, where kids were required to do things like mow the lawn, load dishwashers, tend to younger brothers and sisters and help weed the garden for a lousy 50 cents a week. Summer offered some respite with a few lawn-mowing gigs, but there was often intense … [Read more...]
Corny Cornbread Muffins
Cornbread is one of those things we don’t cook enough. We – or at least I – get in a rut with breads and do rolls, hard bread, biscuits, etc. Recently, I decided to do some cornbread muffins with a tiny twist. I added some actual corn. I was inspired when I passed by the cornmeal section and saw those familiar blue Jiffy Corn Muffin boxes. I bought a couple and went by the standard … [Read more...]
A Caylorized Cantaloupe
On numerous occasions I have bitched about the unripe cantaloupes the supermarkets pawn off on unsuspecting customers – like me. One of my readers, Steve Caylor, a lighting salesman extraordinaire, said if there’s a will, there’s a way to insure ripe cantaloupes every time. “Wrap the cantaloupe in a brown paper bag and put it in the closet for a week. When you take it out, it will be … [Read more...]
Plant Me
My little backyard garden called my name the other day as I walked to the rear to feed the birds. “Plant me,” it said. Not yet, little garden, not yet. One of the most enjoyable things I do – next to playing golf and penciling in a 3 on a par 4 hole, which seldom happens – is planting and tending to my garden. My garden is just the right size – any larger and it would be work, … [Read more...]
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